Fool Me Once
by ChEsHiRe81
Summary: When it comes down to it, she had always been taught to anticipate an opponent's moves. She had failed that. She wouldn't be tricked again into showing her hand. Fools are for foolish Luthors. A 'Dark Lena' tale.
1. Chapter 1

The city might have been singing a different tune, no longer persecuting the righteous one but the real enemy that now was not only an enemy of the state, of the country, but of the entire world. The hero was back flying the colors of red and blue and here she was, standing over who was supposed to be her friends, now all unconscious on the floor. Both bottles brought, opened and half empty, just as she had planned. With the rest of the remaining contents, she walked over to the motionless bodies and began to pour the rest of what was in them on these traitors. There was only one body she cared about moving. That would be easy in itself, considering how fit she kept and how many karate and self defense classes she had taken over the years.

Before tending to that matter, she pulled out a small device and placed it on the table where glasses, snacks and games were residing. Two buttons pressed and the box of black began to glow two fitting colors, red and blue. It took shape and formed a dome with one symbol lit up on the ceiling, purposely sliced in two. Once that was in place, she pulled out another box and set it on the counter, removing each of the unique cuffs. One had to be unbreakable by the outsider. One had to be used to keep all the little boxes in. One to work against the dreams. One would be for the weak excuse of a relationship and the last, for the one she had been working side by side with for weeks.

All hands were bound behind their backs, along with gag bars between their teeth and removal of earpieces and phones which she shut off with one click of a button in her pocket. None of them would do one lick of good anymore anyway, nor would trackers, she had disengaged those too. Now that the matters were addressed, she removed a special brand of wrist restraints on the last and certainly not least. She had been everything and nothing, making nothing but a fool of the intelligent woman. That wouldn't happen again.

Two slaps and it was done, retrieving a secondary phone that wasn't a phone at all. One code was punched in and she aimed it at the wall. Instantly, the lights formed a doorway of sorts and she dropped it beside the strongest yet weakest of the group. Without any trouble, she pushed a few chairs over and closed all the blinds, tossing the contents of their purses all over the place and throwing the empty wine bottles into the wall, exploding glass everywhere. She grabbed the rest of the empty bottles, glasses and full gifts from her and began to throw those against the walls.

She grabbed the one she wanted by the back of the shirt, walking toward the open portal and tapping the device in her pocket twice. The minute she and her door prize were through, the portal closed and the device short circuited just like it was supposed to. What was meant to was left behind. All it needed was one thing. Only one thing. _Only one.._

Once the door closed behind them, she drug the guest of honor into the room and let go of their shirt to walk to the wall panel. All at once, floor and ceiling circular holes became visible, then lasers shot through, caging her and the gamer in at all four sides like walls. She wouldn't dare try to step through, unless she wanted a limb burned off or a severe injury nonetheless. When she knew they were in place, for the time being, she reached down and grabbed one of her guest's ankles to drag them right to where she wanted them. Once more she let go, she stepped over to a raised platform that she slipped behind and unlocked the box on top with a thumb print, code and retina scan. When it opened, she couldn't help but smile with no emotion left in her to give. A smile didn't need to have any feeling to be just an expression given, something she had learned over the years. Two flicks and the floor beneath her guest parted like a set of slide doors, with the person dropping into the tank half full. When the person with their hands bound behind their back sunk to the bottom, she pressed a button and the floor returned to normal. The cage lasers shut off and the pedestal disappeared into the floor leaving her plenty of room to walk now. With a bottle by the door, a glass no longer needed, she headed downstairs, where she could watch the show firsthand, engaging the lasers again to make sure there wouldn't be any backup plans by anyone.

Once she made her way downstairs, with another phone looking device in her hand, she pressed two buttons on the side to leave the room she had exited, in a grey gas and smoke that would keep anyone from getting in or out. Now in a rather comfortable chair, she set the bottle down in the bigger cup holder and grabbed the mic and earpiece, clipping one to her blouse the other resting nicely in her ear. She leaned back, rather relaxed for someone who had her entire world destroyed in the span of a week. It had been going downhill for a long time, then she came here and that had started out rocky until she met someone she had found comfort and solace in. Then more and more was revealed, twisting her thoughts up so much she didn't know truth from lie. People she believed in were lying to her face, manipulating her like everyone always did. That wouldn't happen anymore.

She took the empty clip and box, flipped it up and took round after round until the whole clip was full. Once the box was shut, she picked up a rather familiar gun and slid the clip into the handle slapping it up until it clicked in place. She set the weapon down, grabbing the bottle and twisting off the cap. Bringing it to her lips, she took a nice long drink of the dark liquor then another until it burned going down. With the thirst quenched for now, the bottle went back into the cup holder and a tabletop pushed away on the side table by the chair, revealing a set of controls she had perfected accordingly.

One flick and the machine started to hum. A second flick and lights filled what was before her, showing her the body and items in the tank. The third, the lighting changed and with it her intentions were clear. The last, but not least, brought a surge of electrical currents through the fluid in the tank and with it jolting the person trapped inside. There wasn't enough in the tank to drown the person, just keep them where she wanted them.._for now._ She took another drink, putting the bottle back down, flicking the switch again to send another jolt through and this one lasted longer. The guest's body began to stir, thrash then kicked as if to free themselves. A gasp with another jolt and eyes opened only to be blinded by one color and one color only. Looking around, they realized they couldn't see anything. She had made sure of that.

What had been drunk by her guest of honor, would dull their senses until it wore off. She flicked the switch again, adding more and more time to the clock for how long she kept the currents on. Gasping, groans, whimpers and coughing were heard in her earpiece and all of them made things better for her. She decided to go easy on the electricity for now, grabbing the dial and turning the lights up and with it, the temperature of the tank fluids. There was nothing normal about the water in there. It wasn't water at all, not lighter fluid, which had been tempting too, but far less satisfying. It was something _much worse._

The person in their confinement, thrashed harder and with their kicking and gargled whimpers and howls, she had another drink from the bottle and wondered how the guests were doing she had left behind. _Tempting to check.._

* * *

Her ears were ringing and skull was ruthlessly pounding, shaking her head which only made the headache worse. She went to move and quickly realized her hands were tied behind her. Great. She bit down and growled when she felt the bar between her teeth. _Oh it was on now._ She went to move her legs and noticed them free of restraints and instantly heard groans and growls all around her. It was dark wherever she was, except for one glow and with it her heart completely stopped with hitched breath. One glow, bathed in a sickening neon green, of a cracked House of El symbol. Fear was taking place above all else and with it the need to get whatever was on her wrists off. That's when she felt what was between her teeth ripped away and with it the cuffs. Both fell to the floor, helped into a sitting position but when she was, her hearing and sight went to hell in a hand basket.

"_Easy. Easy._" It sounded like some kind of noise or voice or something, yet that didn't matter as she emptied her stomach of everything until there was nothing left to puke up.

"_I'm gonna.._" She could hear that sound just well, after making it herself. It wasn't just one and that had her shaking.

"_H...hea...h...hea..ddd...cccc...cow...coun...cc..coun..t.._" Her vocals had taken off on her, leaving her throat sore and her head still pounding.

"_Here. Projection comes in handy. Hang on guys._"

"_How?_" She knew that voice. "_Guys?_"

"_Lo...loo...k._" She pointed to ceiling and when she did she heard a group of gasps.

"_OH that's bright!_"

"_WARNING next time_!"

"_Sorry! Sorry. Here._"

"_Alex._" She turned her head to the sound of her space dad's voice. "Can you see?" She lifted her hand and made a so-so gesture. "Want me to check?" She nodded and felt the invasion in her mind almost immediately. A hard sigh and the hands on the side of her head were gone. "Does anyone know where.."

"_Whoa!_" Her vision slammed forward and with one sense back on track, she lunged to the side and puked again. "_Uggghhh...wha…_" The minute she righted herself again, she took notice of everything around her and who was around her. The room was littered with broken glass, minus the now dimmed lighting, there was nothing but darkness all around them. She reached into her pocket with widened eyes.

"Mine is gone too."

"So is mine."

"Com pieces are gone as well. Shall I.."

"Yes." Three of them said at once.

"They are both gone?" Alex took both items from James and J'onn and the minute she did, both began to glow. With a slight buzzing sound, she dropped them and when she did, for the second time her heart completely stopped.

The glowing green symbol on the ceiling disappeared, instead replaced by what looked to be a video feed. "_No...no no no...no...no..FIND HER!_" She screamed at them, hand over her mouth as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. The feed was of her sister in a half full tomb, just like the one Rick had put her in once. Her outfit was soaked, her wrists bound behind her and nothing but green lighting all around. She was gagged by no doubt the same thing they had been with, helpless and bleeding. Then several sparks hit the water like strikes of lightning and they hit her little sister's body convulsing from what was being done to her. "_Kar.._"

"We are locked in?" Alex grabbed the single game piece and cringed. The minute she held it up, every good thing that had tipped the scales back in their favor, had ended. "What is it Alex?" She grabbed the phone, set it before her and placed the white queen chess piece on top of it. "_Ale…_" Nia's hands covered her mouth, gasping at what she was seeing. A hologram showed up on the ceiling and with it one message that shattered the game night family.

_**The tank has three formulas my family had all along. I just made them work for me and more importantly on her. Always taught to be ten moves ahead at times. Fool me once, you become the fool in the end.**_

_**CHECKMATE_**_

* * *

Adding more into the tank, adding more currents and even heating the water up more and more wasn't doing it for her anymore. She needed a more hands on approach. Luckily, growing up with a bunch of maniacs worked in her favor, she could handle her liquor like a champ now. No one had been able to drink her under the table, or tried to at least. The just couldn't and she was content with that. With an empty bottle still in the cup holder and the chosen item in hand, she stepped up to the clear glass wall, that had been reinforced to take on bullets, extreme hot and cold, explosions, charges or anything else that she could come up with to make it unbreakable. There were four spots though, made for an object to slide into but not release any water from the half full tank. She slid the panel open and placed the gun barrel in the slot, flicked the safety off and pressed on the side tab to charge the chamber.

The nice part about your own inventions, is that you can make them the way you want. Making a clip that houses twenty rounds in it was easy even making projectiles that small to work with. These rounds were special though, meant for just..one. She pulled the trigger and with it, each round shot out they entered the specially designed chamber and directly into the tank with her guest. The minute they reached the box, they began to fire off sights and sounds like firecrackers and it was indeed Independence Day for her. The bullets broke apart and tiny metal ball bearings bounced around the tank only to sink to bottom where dozens of one colored chess pieces rested there, all of one piece. _The Queen._

Once the clip was empty, she slid the panel back over and went back to her chair. It was time for phase two to begin. She took the Black Queen piece that was resting in the second cup holder and twirled it in one hand. With the other, she picked up what looked like a TV remote but it was _far from it_. It did have the capacity to change the channel, several in fact. Several channels later, she found the recording she had made and pressed play.

"_She had always been this responsibility to me. Even when I got back my memories, she ruined my life. She made me responsible all over again. I had a way out if I had stayed with the one I wanted to be with. Now, because of her, I can't have that because I have to do what I've always been told to do. My life doesn't matter when all she's always been is a loose end. I can't do it anymore J'onn. Once Lex is caught, erase them again._"

The speaker volume in the tank had been turned up. The thrashing body quit thrashing, as if giving up and trying to find where the voice was coming from. Onto the next.

"_She should have been my responsibility not yours. I should have kept her in the dark when she was brought to the DEO that night. I'm sorry I didn't save you that night Alex. This is on me. I will wipe your mind after everything settles. Are you going to tell her the truth?_"

"_She's been lying to her best friend for over two years J'onn. I owe it to Lena to be honest with her. It wasn't my secret to tell and I know you agree we should have told her the day we found out about Sam and Reign. She chose to lie. She kept us from telling Lena. We had no issue with her last name. I only told that to Kara to shut her up and let Lena live a life without the added burden of some strange child from the stars. I lost my father over her. I won't lose the friend I have made in Lena because of Kara._"

"_Would you like me to help you forget Kara completely?_"

"_When you do, do it for Lena too. If I am gonna have a new girlfriend I want a real friend that's more of a sister than Kara has ever been. I don't have to protect Lena all the time. Lena can protect herself. Wipe hers too okay?_"

She sat back, flipping the zippo open and grabbing one of the rolled cigarettes off the tray, she lit the end and slapped the lighter shut. One long drag, signalling how long it had been since she had smoked anything and she turned on the next recording.

"_Alex? I'm here what's wrong?_"

"_Lena hey. Thanks for meeting me._"

"_Are you alright? Is Kara okay?_" She watched as the one in the tank stilled but she could easily see them shaking.

"I_ need to tell you something, before I lose the nerve to and feel like I need to keep lying to you. Lena, your friendship means alot to me and I just recently got to know Kelly and I really like her. I REALLY like her. We kissed and it was magical and I haven't felt like this in a long time. I hope you know her and I talked and she knows how important her brother is to you. James and I talked about this and don't put this on him okay?_"

"_Okay._"

"_Lena, I nearly died through all of this and I can't continue lying to you. I hate that I had to. My sister did too but I told her to tell you and I am sorry it has to come out like this. Kara is Supergirl._" The body in the tank began to spasm with the flick of a switch. "_We were planning on telling you in the morning, James and I. I'm sorry you had to find out this way._"

"_Just like I made kryptonite._"

"_Did you know we used to have it? We used it to shoot her out of the sky when she decided to act like her cousin and play hero. She saved my life and ruined it by deciding to be special instead of hiding her powers. Her cousin was the one that brought her to our doorstep. Kara is the reason I lost my dad and nearly died trying to save him. I am sorry about this Lena._"

"_Thank you for being honest with me Alex._"

She turned off the recordings, flicking off all the lights in the tank and back on the currents. _Time for phase three..._


	2. Chapter 2

"_DAMMIT!_" They knew it wasn't like Nia to cuss, being as vanilla as Kara most of the time that refused to have the profanity button like her sister, nor one to discuss the more adult topics, but she was beyond furious. For some reason, she couldn't project herself out of the room, increasing her frustration up to the point she wished she had Supergirl's heat vision.

"_None?_" James asked with Alex shaking her head. Every electrical circuit, minus the lighting that for some reason had been tampered with too, provided zero help for a way to make some sort of communicator. J'onn had been punching at the walls until him, Brainy and Nia united their powers to push their abilities to their max in hopes of getting out of there, with absolutely no avail. The device found on the floor in pieces, proved to the Director how foolish she had been to believe nothing had changed. Obviously, _Lena knew._ Even worse, Alex had a sneaking suspicion it was Lex that told her before Kara could. That kind of betrayal could send the woman over the edge with how badly she had been torn apart through everything with her brother, mother and _derelicts of liberty. _

"What about that projector or the phone thing she left?" Dreamer asked, Brainy nodded and snatched up the phone device only to be suddenly shocked by it. The image changed, warning them of their foolish mistake.

_**Robots and 5th Level Intellects cannot play a two person board_**_

The message spoke volumes to how ruthless someone Alex and them once doubted, trusted and kept secrets from could be when left in the dark. She had thought the wine tasted a little funny, realizing how she should have paid more attention to the effects of said beverage. Considering how someone could poison or drug two unopened bottles, she walked over to the counter and inspected the corks. Quite surprised they had little flashlights left, she shined a light on it when she held it up and cringed. Sure enough, one tiny hole through and through. Lena had come prepared and Alex regretted stopping Kara from telling her best friend when she wanted to.

"_Uh guys..?_" Nia called to them, not soon enough for screams to erupt from all around, forcing them all to cover their ears tightly. When they came up to the reason for the terror they knew to be Kara's both Alex and J'onn hit their knees with eyes wide, tears rolling down like rivers and the feeling of failure running through every ounce of her body. _They had failed her. They had failed.._

* * *

She hadn't expected the one in their captive chamber to last as long as they did but eventually their body gave way to unconsciousness. One push of a button, a lever yanked down and the tank was lowered to the floor and right to where she wanted it. Heading to the left door, punching in a couple different codes with the letters of her middle name backwards, the year she met a deceitful best friend and a retina scan, that slab opened. Once inside, she entered a second one and walked through the narrow space to the tank. She put in her codes, waited for the box to open with another code for a fail safe, a few switches flipped, one turn of the dial and the caged top of lead and outworldly metals opened and folded over on the sides.

She unlocked the ten locks with different combinations to each one, opened the lead and kryptonite lined latch and reached inside the tank. The bar bridled gag was removed, replaced with an oxygen mask which she secured with locks on her captive guest's head. She opened all four valves on the sides of the mask, grabbed the four hoses and slid them through the four holes at the four corners of the tank. Once each hose was outside it, she attached them to the four tanks, tightening them then closing the clamps to keep them from being removed or loosened.

All four units were turned on, not starting up the motors for the compressors until she used her remote to do so. She couldn't help it when climbing on the two-step ladder, to reach down and brush her hand over the person's face almost lovingly. When she realized what she was doing, she froze and growled. Quickly she retracted her hand and began cursing in the languages she had learned over the years. Being soft wasn't something she wanted anymore with anyone. Cold felt much better, when numb took over the warmth she had once believed in.

She secured the latch and cage then shut it all up, exiting both doors and returned to her chair after raising up the platform again putting the tank back at the level it had been at before. Curiosity got the better of her and she snatched up her pad, typing in her password then doing the pattern she chose for security measures, as the screen came alive and with it _footage._

"_When we get out of here J'onn, I'm done playing nice. That bitch has my sister, torturing her for our mistake. OUR mistake! WE TOLD HER that she couldn't tell Lena! We were the one to make that decision! She was about to tell her on the way back from Kaznia. She had taken her glasses off, ready to reveal everything. I didn't know J'onn. The mind wipe failed her! I failed her! Do you have any idea what we've done?! WE did this! We practically threatened my sister about how she couldn't tell her! Lena was her best friend! She is...or was or..I don't know._"

"_Alex. We had no choice. Colonel Hayley was trying to find out her identity and you knew if she did when she was on a mission to get it for that wretched animal we called a President at the time, they would have blackmailed her into doing whatever they wanted. We..had..no..choice._" She hadn't expected this news.

"_Didn't we? I had to have my mind wiped of memories we had. I failed her and when she needed me most, I forgot who she was. She was scared and hurt and absolutely destroyed by this! I threatened her. Me. Her own sister! I treated her like shit J'onn. I broke her everytime we butted heads. She was lucky to have Nia then because I couldn't be there. I didn't know who she was! Pieces of me were missing and those pieces had broken parts of her. She had lost me because I thought I was protecting her. She was so damn scared of losing Lena. I mean Lillian told her that when she found out the truth, she would hate Kar. Guess what? She spoke the truth after all. Kara would have given up and told Lena even if she lost her because she hated lying to her J'onn. She was going to tell her and it was ME to stop her from doing so! I stop.._"

She shut the tablet off, ending the audio on it and released a slur of curses while gritting her teeth. _Had she been wrong?_ It was too late to go back anymore. It was too late to return to how things were before. The mask fell over her face, shutting off the doubts again and grabbed the remote from the other cup holder. Where a bottle had been before, a glass took its place that she snatched up to take a long drink to numb the good left in her and keep on the task at hand. She raised her hand and aimed at the box on the wall and pressed the first number, starting one of the motors and with it the pump attached to it.

Her eyes followed the line and watched the fluid makes its way through the hose and towards the chamber tank, becoming fumes when it hit the next line and first narrow tube connected to the mask. She turned on the oxygen line to slowly give the person plenty of air to wake them up forcefully. In an instant the person gasped, eyes growing larger and doing anything they could to struggle. Their legs thrashed, feet kicking against the tank wall and pushing off it to try to get some thrust which only backfired on them. The minute they did so, they howled from the heat of the walls. The water had gotten hot enough to warm up the tank and with it the walls, that their bare feet met with a burn. She pressed the second number and the second motor and pump came to life, sending the fluid down the next hose. The person put their feet back on the wall and howled again, gasping and that's when she shut the fresh air off in the mask, leaving the next gas to sit until inhaling both. One deep breath to get some kind of air and the person took in both gases, starting a third when she pushed the next number turning fluids to fumes meant for only one place.

The third would send the person into deep paranoia with a side of delusions meant to cause so much confusion that any thoughts would be far too mangled to put together clearly. The fourth was a drug used to break soldiers in interrogations by stripping all will power and sanity until neither existed anymore. She pushed the fourth number, shutting her eyes to blind herself to what the actions would result in, then turned on the air so all four gases would hit the prisoner, no longer a guest at all. Guests had the ability to leave, prisoners didn't.

The person didn't care about the burning anymore, too far into a worsening psychosis to know any better or feel hot and cold like a normal person. She turned up all four pumps and with it the pressure in the hoses to push more and more fumes through them. She counted with tapping fingernails on her now empty glass, she held until a minute passed and she pressed a button to unlock the straps on the mask as it fell away from their head. She ran her thumb over one of the buttons and finally pressed it, releasing the wrist restraints and with it freeing the person's hands.

Even with them no longer secure, they couldn't find their way out of a wet paper bag or for that matter a dry one. Coherent words were gone, replaced by jumbled ones with fluids drained from the locked box and just enough fresh air circulating through the main hose on the mask. It would provide oxygen in the air tight tank, which she turned up to allow more in that had no way of escaping. She turned off the four pumps once the contents were emptied out, took the empty glass and threw it at the clear wall, uncaring she broke another crystal tumbler. Standing up, she turned up the air supply, knowing what she'd pumped in there wouldn't be leaving the person's system anytime soon. The fluids in the tank had absorbed into their skin and that would keep the slow time-release drugs working the way they were meant to.

She flicked off the room lights but not the green glowing ones in the tank, setting all alarm codes on the way out to head to bed. The video and audio feeds would continue and with it, the broadcast to the prison she kept the rest of the game night family in. It was time to get some shut eye before work in the morning. Both companies would need her undivided attention tomorrow. _Work came first.._

* * *

Every ounce of strength had left their exhausted bodies, unaware they had been once more knocked out by a gas she had released into the air by a hidden tank located in a corner of the room they didn't think to look. It was odorless and tasteless, giving them little warning until their bodies were back on the floor in heaps. _However _the DEO's Director had taken one precaution and that was to keep a damp cloth by her side in a sealed ziploc and when she felt woozy, she grabbed it before she could fall over completely.

This had worked to Alex's advantage and when she knew the rest of them were unconscious, she crawled towards the bathroom with the now exposed cloth wrapped around her head and covering her face. The minute she was in there, she shut the door and locked it then pushed herself up enough to turn on the vent overhead, slowly removing the cloth from her face. She took several deep breaths and was grateful not to feel like she was going to pass out again. Alex sat on the now closed toilet seat, turning on the shower and stripping everything off her shivering body.

Even though her sister was in the hands of a rather pissed off and seemingly overconfident psycho bitch, she had to be smart about her next few moves. Lena was a chess prodigy and learning a person's strengths and weaknesses in their actions would be how she reacts to things. Alex noticed something on the floor towards the back of the toilet, bending down to retrieve it and when her fingers grazed what it was her eyes widened.

Careful to avoid getting the object wet, she set it on the counter by the toilet and forced her body into the nice warm water. She could care less the only body wash was what J'onn used, happy to have something to cleanse the filth she felt all over at what had transpired. This was what she needed in order to get her shit together and help her sister. Alex was also grateful some things had never changed and once out and clean, with a towel wrapped around her, she bent down and looked under the sink reaching up to find the hidden holster and gun.

The Director set that on the counter and began to disassemble the electric razor with a spare blade from the box in the container she pulled out from the cabinet. She used the blade like a screwdriver and slowly removed each screw on the two-way radio that no doubt J'onn used to keep tabs on DEO now. Alex put her smarts to good use and with the wires spliced and twisted together using the roll of electrical tape she had also found under the sink, along with teflon tape, she set those down to drench a hand towel and tie it around her head after taking a deep breath. _Screw the bloody towel.._

With her head much clearer, not thrilled about the unconscious bodies of her friends and family around her, she shook that away and gathered up each phone and ear com they had, along with her jacket, keys, favorite gun and spare suit that Brainy had been able to replicate which she kept at J'onn's purposely. It was then she realized the absence of one other in their game group..._Kelly. _She had been with them earlier, having to leave to tend to some office matters. _Was she okay? _Her brother had shown up later, noticing his sister not there. _Alex had forgotten her. This woman...she had JUST kissed.._

She took all the devices back to the bathroom and locked the door, not sure if it was possible to help the others for the time being anyway. They were all alive, this she knew for certain with the rise and fall of their chests. Alex needed to focus, quickly removing the batteries and grateful that J'onn kept his toolbox in the side closet by his endless bookcases. She had to act fast, in case the traitor Luthor decided to show her face back up with a royally pissed off Danvers. Alex wasn't even sure how the shades had been locked or boarded but nothing surprised her anymore when it came to Lena and her endless ideas and principles.

"_Come on.._" She ripped the towel off her face and tossed it in the shower, after turning off the water. "_Come on...dammit come on.._" Alex was certain that evil incarnate had fried any of their ways of reaching out, but had forgotten one major detail to her own humane stupidity, proving she wasn't the intellect she thought she was. The Director had spent part of her later teenage years and early adult ones hot wiring vehicles and old school radios. In college, even though studying to be in the medical field, while partying and getting into massive trouble, she took a course in computers and how to build them from scratch. Alex paid close attention to what wires did what and how to create gadgets out of very little. She quickly unscrewed the face plate for the light and fan switches, keeping the only flashlight they had between her teeth. Bitch wanted to play her fucked up games? _She would play too._

A couple choice words laced with malice and fury, along with shocking herself twice and she had managed to reprogram the removed keypad and sparked up the chip along with connecting a speaker to the makeshift phone. "_Please...please work.._" The sweet sound of a ring tone was music to her ears.

"_You've reached Dr. Olsen. I'm not in my office right..this is Dr. Olsen. May I ask who's calling?_" She didn't care if it was her sister's god or not, she was thanking Rao with a passion. "_Who is this?_"

"_K..K..ell..y..it...it's..A..le..x. H..he...hel...p..p...s..stud...y. trap..tr...apped...g...ge...get...hel.._" Her head began to pound relentlessly, not letting up in the least. The makeshift phone slipped out of her hand and hit the bathroom floor. Alex grasped the sides of the bathroom counter, hoping to keep herself upright. She looked in the mirror and saw the dilation of her pupils and unsteadiness of her gaze. What had been in her system wasn't done yet. "_K...Ka...r...a.._" Her head fell back and legs gave out as she dropped to the tiled floor, hitting the back of her skull hard. Blackness took over her vision as she lost track.._of everything.._

* * *

She had cleared all meetings, requested absolute privacy and opened up a new bottle to drown her woes and thoughts until the one despicable emotion wouldn't leave her be, pouring herself a glass and shutting off her computer. She brought the crystal up to her lips and took a long drink, ignoring the pitiful weak side of her with the remains of something happy captured in a simple yet elegant frame. The three of them smiling, she now saw as fake and misguided. Those precious moments were a figment of her imagination and she put a stop to it then and there. She brought her hand down, clenching tight to the glass and slammed it over the picture as it cracked the glass in the frame, fracturing everything she had once believed was real.

It was too late to repair anything anymore, continuing to ignore all of what that picture stood for. Once more, curiosity got the better of her, turning over the tablet and snarling. The feed wasn't what she was expecting and with the new development, she took her leave quickly out of her office, towards her well disguised and hidden panic room. She stepped inside after opening up the balcony door and windows, grabbing her tablet and purse, along with other items she came to work with and shutting the door to the den well lit up by surveillance screens and everything to keep an eye on things.

"_ALEX! Alex we're here! Alex? Alex can you hear me? Alex?_" Her full-proof plan had cracks it seems. _Interesting.._

"_DANVERS! Danvers talk to me! Danvers it's Sawyer! Do it!_"

Four rather aggressive explosions not only had her hands covering her ears that were still ringing, but knocked all feeds of the place out in an instant. _It was time to return to her sessions early.._


	3. Chapter 3

The calvary came in, agents and NCPD SD included, along with two women who immediately ran to one person's side. Upon the realization, one stopped their path and instead focused on the rest of the fallen. She knelt down to someone she knew all too well, checking for a pulse and hearing a groan.

"_Jesus.._" Another groan and she whistled to a few agents, followed by another who held a grim expression on her face. She turned and met the short haired woman's eyes, nodding slightly. The woman nodded back, looked away and began to bark all sorts of orders before going over to who she had met briefly but trusted already with how gentle she was with someone she hadn't been so kind to.

"How is she?" One fearful expression filled her face, especially her eyes and when she pulled a small pen light out from her vest and shined it into a now pulled back eyelid, she cringed. "_Not good._ They've been drugged with a nerve agent. We need to get them back to the DEO and assess the.."

"_U….ggg..h.h.. sa..vvvv...e...K...K..a...r.._" A rather disheveled voice caught everyone's attention and the shortest of the women that rushed in, made her way to the person. She grabbed her own pen light and inspected the person's eyes. "_K...Ka...aaara.._"

"_Little Danvers?_" She realized her mistake and before she could fix her slip, the one who had left the confines of the White House was by their side. "_I.._"

"_L...e e...n...a.. Sh .t...t...too..k...k… .K..a...r..a…_"

"Why did she take her Dreamer?" She was no fool, she saw through the mask easily and it didn't help the interview that Danvers had done of Dreamer either. She had a suspicion and she knew _exactly _what to ask. "_Why._" It was almost a command and before the woman beside her, well known to some of the group in the room, yet to learn about the others, could stop her it was too late.

"_Lee...kn...ows. .ss..sh….she.. .is..s.. .Su..p..er.._" _There it was...confirmation. _She studied the structure and without meaning to, set her hand above the woman on the floor and by the shadowed perspective she saw exactly what the other woman did. This person was the one that fought alongside someone who would have been her little sister.

"_Rest._" As if on cue, eyes closed and the body quit the struggle to stay conscious anymore. "I am quite certain you knew."

"I did." Honesty would most definitely be the best policy with the one that was beside her. "_I know all too well._" She turned back as did the woman beside her and looked at the one that had her ex in their lap, softly stroking her hair while adjusting the mask over her face to supply the Director fresh air.

"_Stay with me Alex..please. We just found each other Alexandra Danvers. Stay with me._" She flipped her head sideways and met shaking brown hues with her much darker brown ones. The look of grave concern wasn't on her but who was in her arms, about to ask questions she felt the need to until a doctor came over and knelt down to draw another sample of blood carefully. Instead her gaze flicked to the woman who carefully slipped the needle out and turned up the air supply in the portable tank.

"_Take care of them._" She couldn't stand the sight, not even with people she cared about there, instead focusing on one thing and one thing only. _Finding Little Danvers.._

* * *

There was nothing left for her, not at L-Corp or at CATCO, that could force the hand of fate to stay and suffer the consequences of her extreme actions. So she took a brief trip to her penthouse and gathered up some things, looking around the space she once considered an escape and even more a place that one person had brought some color to. Paintings hung and pictures framed on the shelf, all to her.._meaningless._

"_It's too late._" It was and she knew it. Where she had shot her brother and ended his existence from the world, was empty of files and all four computers along with portable hard drives. That place that had changed everything with just a few minutes of calculated exposures to the truth and the question that tended to linger around her brain. A place where an act of cruelty came with another and the end of one to the beginning of the second. The third act had been her doing and that's where it would continue.

She stepped through the door and threw two duffel bags across the floor and secured the space again. Once settled, with another hard choice of beverage, she adjusted the controls and flicked on the lighting more. Through brief overview of meticulous records her dear dead brother kept, she discovered things that now made far more sense than they used to. The metabolism of her prisoner would work in her favor. The doses in the air had most likely dissipated by now. She considered beginning the process over but chose not to. Instead she stood up after taking a long gulp down of the liquor straight from the bottle, grabbed the mask along with the small tank and slipped them on clipping the metal cylinder to the side of her pants.

"_Payback._" The emotionless mask over her face locked in place and refused to fall away or crack again, adjusting the air supply of her tank. She went back through the narrow space and to the tank, undoing everything at a calm and relaxed pace while standing on the step ladder. Deciding to change the dynamics to her liking, she had the tank lowered and got off the ladder setting it aside. Whistling as she retrieved a bar stool and a 2 gallon black jar from the counter, she returned to where her prisoner was. Sitting on the stool now, holding the jar with one arm, she studied her new little test subject's state. On their side slightly curled, soaked and shivering with head rolling around and heavy whimpers like some kicked animal, she was pleased with the results.

While turning up the tank at her hip, the most sinister of smirks were behind the full face mask, hiding her identity from the cameras and especially the feed she had going in that pitiful little raided box. She no longer cared that the group had been found, especially since she had dosed the Director with double the cocktail when they had all shared drinks during game night. Everything given was time-released and it wouldn't be long until the next two drugs spread through her body. _As for this one.._

"_Enjoy putrid liar._" Malice dripped with her words and cold as ice voice, unscrewing the lid to the jar and dumped what was in it all over the person. Once it was empty, she climbed off the stool and set the jar and lid to the side, then closed up the tank, the cage and secured the locks snatching up the noise cancellation headset. Without any remorse at all she attached the circular disc to the top of the cage and with one twist hooks popped out and latched onto the bars to keep it in place. With one finger inside a front pocket, she tapped the button she was looking for sending a shock through the now conscious person's body. The creatures instantly went to work, doing what they do best, feeding on more and more each time the body spasmed. One slap of their head towards the top of the tank and she noticed their terrified completely grey eyes so fractured just like she felt with the reveal from hell. "_Boom._" She slammed her closed fist down on the top of the device, with a set of bright orange flashing lights taking effect bringing forth blast after blast of explosive torment around them and especially through the two waterproof speakers under the tank. Every eruption of deafening torment had the entire box shaking so badly it was sending the person further into chronic psychosis.

Their howls, shrieks and whimpers weren't enough for her to turn off the device just yet. She was at a place in her head that it seemed she now truly understood Lillian's reasoning of things. Cadmus made perfect sense and even more so her brother's own madness. She knew that if she kept this up, she could possibly go into that brink of insanity. She wasn't her brother. _She..was..smarter. _

One quick tap and the device was turned off, twisted and tossed away, with the box's frame becoming brittle and shattering until only the cage held her imprisoned subject. She grabbed the baton and twisted the handle, revealing the sparks of a taser at the tip. Just as she was about to slide the baton between the bars of the cage, one strangled name left the person's lips.

"_Le..eee...n..n...n...a.._" The object dropped from her hand and clang to the hard surface by her feet, no longer on the lowest bar on the stool. Her entire body began to tremble without any way to stop the tremors from rippling through her frame only worsening with each passing second. No longer in need of the mask or oxygen running through it, she ripped it off her face and tossed it and the tank away from her. She tapped the side button on the remote in her pocket and shut off the camera feed immediately. "_Mm..ligh...wa. ..n..ted..d..d..t..to...waa… .t..t..to...t..ell..mm… .m..my...ligh...tttt.._" _What had she done…_

She had to assess this situation, reminding herself of _what all she heard.._

_**** yesterday's revealing.. **_

"_I mean Lillian told her that when she found out the truth, she would hate Kar. Guess what? She spoke the truth after all. Kara would have given up and told Lena even if she lost her because she hated lying to her J'onn. She was going to tell her and it was ME to stop her from doing so! I stop.._"

_**** end of flashback**_

"_DAMMIT!_" She stumbled off the stool the rest of the way and went for the hose at the wall. She switched over two of the valves, running towards the cage and quickly unleashing the cleansing solution which automatically detached each leech that fell from the person's body and dropped dead upon the floor. She continued to spray down every bit of their frame, until the last of the vile creatures were washed off of them. It was as if the marks on her captive, far too many to count, were inside of her own body twisting and coiling so tight they were restricting her airway to the point she couldn't breathe. She held onto part of the cage and continued to wash off anything else she could on them, turning it off finally and dropping the hose to stagger out after flicking on a certain set of lights, exiting the narrow space and back towards her chair.

She fell into it and grabbed the bottle, drowning her sorrows, regrets, rage, pain, destructive thoughts, punishing ideals and everything else until nothing was left in her and once more she became nothing but numb. "_Emptiness...emptiness...emp..ty.._" _She had certainly become that indeed.._

* * *

_Six hours. _Six hours is what it took to purge the superb intellect and the one whose dreams had became far too vivid of nightmares. Six hours to get the Manhunter back to a lucid state of mind. Six hours until one who guarded the city, whether powers or no, could be put back together. Six hours and counting when what was given to the frantic, overwhelmed and screaming woman finally worked through enough of her system to finally quiet and calm her. _Six hours. _

To see the one that she barked order after order, demand and threatened so often reduced to the state she was in both terrified and sickened her to no end. From the doorway, she watched as several medical staff kept close eye on the woman so frail so small in the bed. There were too many things hooked up to her, far too many machines working to stabilize and keep vigilant record of any dangerous numbers that flashed across the screens. Under a mask, gown, sheets and blankets, the trembles didn't subside completely.

"_Thanks._" She turned to see Vasquez slowly approach, a look of pure worry etched along her face. "Let your daughter know we are taking good care of her." Two heads popped up from the hallway chairs at the exact same time, one of them just recently returned from being out and about trying to find the missing Super and their _Public Enemy Number One_. "I suggest if she does contact you, that you let it go straight to voicemail and don't answer any texts or emails of any kind. _I'm sure. _Thanks Miss Arias." She looked at both women still seated, studying the body language of both. One seemed to recognize part of that conversation where the other had no clue.

"Miss Arias?" She had to ask. Susan nodded. "_Reign?_" The agent's body tensed, both women gasped and one had practically jumped out of their chair to storm over to the Co-Director. "_Detective.._"

"_That's CAPTAIN to you and WHAT?! Are you trying to tell me that Samantha Arias is...was...Reign?_" Fury had taken up a new mantle to the emotions inside of her. She had no patience for bullshit whatsoever. "_Tell me!_"

"_Maggie.._" She knew this wasn't going to end well at all, so might as well come clean. "..she wasn't Reign."

"_How do YOU know?!_" She decided to take matters into her own hands and before Vasquez could be pushed against a wall, she had the hot headed woman on the ground on her back from having her legs clipped. "_Bitch!_"

"I highly recommend you stay down until you can calm yourself enough to continue conversations with any of us. I do not take lightly to someone who decides to throw temper tantrums if she doesn't get her way. In the meantime, I know more than any of you realize. There are programs that were used when trying to apprehend the ones known as _World Killers _that would run through facial recognition. After the president was taken into custody, the COL gathered up and houses cleaned of each agency, I ran across the files. Samantha Arias, former acting CEO of L-Corp and friend of my Director and her sister, had an entity known as the WC strain within her body. She wasn't conscious of what her physical body did. This wasn't some test. This woman and her daughter almost became two more on Reign's murder list, so she will not be held accountable for this."

"The woman dressed in all black that fought Supergirl in National City?" She looked into the psychologist's eyes and nodded. "_Alex's sister was the one..oh my god._" Far too much news to take in all at once for her, but to be there for her girlfriend she had to keep her head on straight to be helpful and it didn't matter how many times she needed to remind herself of that or continue to do so in order to be what Alex needed her to be the most right now.

"_Yeah._" The woman huffed out on the floor. _Now _she had to know more about this detective, apparently captain.

"Were you there?" She looked from Miss Olsen, back to the one at her feet.

"_No._" She looked up at her other Director and slightly rose an eyebrow.

"_Why._" It wasn't her asking, it was nothing but a pure demand.

"They broke up. She called it quits." The agent explained, arms crossed to avoid kicking the cop's ass herself. "_She didn't want kids._" She looked in the eyes of the lead in charge here, nodding in confirmation, then looked at the other woman who genuinely cared about her boss.

"_You.._" Susan was about to move but an arm out blocked her path, both watching the scene unfold. "_Left?_ You left her because of kids? _YOU!_" No one had ever seen Kelly Olsen get angry. _They were going to see it now.._

"_Shit.._" She had her training from the NCPD, partially in SWAT, even on a private sector of Gotham at her disposal. She wasn't prepared for this woman, that had taken her place, to flat out toss her across the floor, like she weighed ten pounds, so easily. There wasn't even any time to recover before she was picked up off the ground and flipped over the psychologist's head, only to be let go and drop hard. A groan of both pain and annoyance left her lips. _Big mistake._

"Not worth it anymore." One slight minor kick to the face and entered the room where her beautiful love lay helpless. She pulled up a chair and was given a pat on the shoulder along with a thumbs up from the main doctor, who left to give them some privacy. With a hand brought up to the one without as many cords attached to their arm, she gently traced her knuckles and sighed. "_I'm here Alex._" She could listen to the rest of the conversations, even from where she was at.

"_Hello?_" Those in the hall turned their heads to find the owner of the weak voice. The person walked over and thanked the agents for the change of clothing, met with the short haired woman's hand out in a gesture of respect. She took it and frowned. "Did you guys find Kara?"

"No. Colonel Haley."

"Nia Nal." They shook hands but the headache that had lessened some seemed to be building up again. She pinched between her eyes hoping to make it fade, with it helping some.

"Dreamer?" She remembered a chat with her mentor and friend about this woman, nodding for confirmation. "_May I ask.._"

"With your quest, well that idiot in the White House's order to uncover her identity, Kara lost everything." She was aware of everyone's attention on her, so she continued. "The _Truth Seeker._" Lauren was kicking herself for use of that thing. "In order to keep Supergirl's identity a secret, those that knew who she was at the DEO had their minds wiped of who she was." It dawned on Haley the repercussions of her actions. "_Alex too._" The Colonel had never felt as guilty as she did at that moment, learning Kara's own sister was taken from her when she needed her most. "With Alex in the dark, their bond altered in so many ways with not knowing Kara to be kryptonian, my friend lost herself."

No one was aware of the DEO's cameras and mics being hacked by an unknown person that was listening in on the whole conversation. Nia went on, slightly walking around almost as if pacing, another trait she had picked up from her mentor. "She came with me to a family gathering and when everything grew out of hand and we left. On the way back to National City she revealed herself after me telling her my sister hates me when our mother died and blamed me for it, because I couldn't prevent it. She was angry at me because it's supposed to be a gift passed down from mother to daughter and that I'm not even a real woman."

None of them knew that she was transgender, but then they thought about the interview Kara did with Dreamer and it made perfect sense now. "Kara witnessed what my sister said to me before we left." Nia stopped, turning to face the Colonel. "She never let me feel alone and was there for me through it all. I was destroyed, not knowing what she had been through recently or as Supergirl entirely. She showed her identity to me, despite it could put me in danger because she saw a hero in me that I had never seen at all in myself."

"Her own sister?" Another nod for an answer. "_When did she.._"

"When the other version of Kara and her were fighting. Alex had apparently shown up when Supergirl fell. I found out later that she had gotten this Kaznia away before she could inflict anymore pain. They left and by the time Alex got to her..._Kara..had.._" A few tears escaped her eyes but she wiped them away. "She wasn't breathing and her heart had stopped. Somehow, Alex told me that she had pulled sunlight through the Earth around her. It saved her and then Kara almost died again. Her other half had saved her life, sacrificing her own life so she could live."

"People used to say.." She got up and dusted herself off then slid down the wall to sit on the floor leaning back. "...that the Danvers were a package deal. No one could ever separate them." Guilt was tearing her apart inside more and more. "I left Danvers because I couldn't handle kids. I left Little Danvers too. I left before On the television I watched Kara be dropped to her death practically by Reign. I wasn't there for either of them." She had nothing else to give and stood up to walk down the hall away from everyone, poking her head into the room where two people resided. "I'll continue the search for Little Danvers and the she-devil. I'll let you know if I find anything out about either of them." With more steps leading away she stopped abruptly and looked over a shoulder behind her. "Miss Olsen..._take care of her. Of them both._ Don't let Alex know I was here."

"_I will._" Kelly vowed to keep that promise and knew she could, once they found Kara and brought her home. "_I will._" She had a feeling this would be the last time she saw her girlfriend's ex. There was so much she had yet to learn, to understand about both sisters, but would make all the time in the world to do so.

"We need to get the Director to the OR." Dr. Hamilton implied, handing the lead her report and tests results. "_This isn't over. _There are three more drugs, time-released ones to be exact, that will attach themselves to cells in her blood if we don't get what is next in line out of her stomach before it _don't _want what comes next infecting her."

"I'll help if you have spare scrubs."

"I will too." The one in charge told both Amelia and Kelly. "I planned on going into the medical field of the military before I moved up in ranks. I know plenty and have the degrees to prove it."

The Co-Director, now acting Director, Naltorian as well as human and a now awake Martian watched as the Director was rushed off the operating room. _As if things weren't bad enough already, the devil's work was FAR from over.._

* * *

The internal battle waged on inside her, mind over heart or heart over mind, followed with mind over mind, leading to the same conclusion..._she was JUST like them both._ Only one person hadn't judged her or thought of just her last name. One person who had gone to bat for her, even when the detective hauled her away. One person who had saved her as both one persona and the other. One person. _One. _One selfless individual and _what had she done? _She proved all she was had been exactly that, _a Luthor. _Lex had been right and she knew it now after everything she had put the hero through, even accusing them of doing something that the mother from hell did. _Still _she was believed in.._again and again and again.._

_**** flashback**_

"_I CAN'T HOLD BOTH!_" _She screamed at her while hanging onto two pieces of a plane and it's contents that could kill millions. The look on her face of fear, panic and pain. _

"_Save the chemicals, not me!_"

"_NO, I'M NOT GOING TO DROP YOU!_" _That expression that spoke volumes of how desperate the hero was to save her. _

"_Let me go!_"

"_NO!_" _She could hear the sound of metal being crushed, knowing how difficult it was growing for her to hang on. How she looked for something, anything to bring the odds back in their favor. _"_CLIMB LENA! CLIMB!_" _Her unyielding, never doubting, belief in her that shown in her words. _"_YOU CAN DO IT, COME ON! COME ON! COME ON, YOU CAN DO IT! YOU HAVE TO JUMP! NOW!_" _She jumped and the hero, HER hero had caught her...had saved her...always.._

_**** end of flashback**_

That night, she had been saved and countless lives had been spared agonizing pain and death because of one single person. That same person, that same hero, that saw her as worth something far more than she ever believed herself to be at all. Those eyes that had known so much suffering and loss, torment and strife. Eyes that were void of warm cerulean and sky blues of hope and strength for everyone else but themselves, now faded and grey like she had let her heart become all from her failure to give her best friend a chance to come to her and tell her the truth.

_**** flashback: night before**_

"_No I'm uh...I'm worried about Lena._" _She turned away, looking back at someone who meant the world to her. _"_I have to tell her the truth. I can't keep it from her anymore._"

"_Lena's been through hell. We finally got to a place where it sort of feels a little normal again, so...I don't know, maybe just let her enjoy the evening before we take it away._" _Words spoken between sisters so close._

"_You're right. Not tonight._" _Promising to reveal it all tomorrow.._

_**** end of flashback**_

She had listened to the recording, the hidden device she had planted while joining in on their fun and games. Her best friend had been tortured, unable to come to her out of fear of losing her. She should have seen both sides, not jumping to harsh conclusions only to lash out with such inhumane and merciless cruelty. She had never been what the hero saw in her, proving it by the childish way she went about things_. Proof...in judgement without merit.._

Suddenly, alarms were sounding and she knew _exactly _what that meant. _Her guest, from captive to subject back to hero...wasn't breathing anymore.._


	4. Chapter 4

Everything she had ever known, believed and tried to fight, in the end she became. No ounce of the brilliant, dedicated, hope offered woman existed anymore. There wasn't anything left in her and she knew it. _This was her fate now._ It had all changed in a day, warranting all the things she had wished to have, but knew now she never had the right to. Her fate was yet to be decided, chosen most likely by a single person hell bent on revenge and probably considering how to punish her in the worst way possible no doubt. _No light remained, not anymore.._

_**** flashback: 15 hours ago**_

_With the sound of alarms, she rushed to her feet, ripped off the emergency reader around her neck on the back of a pendant and quickly made her way to the one whose heart had stopped while trapped in her stupid cage. She unlocked everything, after lowering it to the floor with controls, reached in and dreaded everything at once. _

_Between what the person had been soaked in, trapped in and breathed in, their clothing had dissipated as if their body had been put in the worst of acids. Their skin was covered in marks left by the vile leech creatures, blood covered part of their face where they had most likely coughed up if not puked their own lifeforce. Burns, both third-degree and other, cuts and bruises littered their flesh. _

_Not even considering what she was doing, she had gathered them up into her arms and pulled them out of their prison, running out of the narrow space and back into the nice warm and much more comfortable room. Carefully she lowered her to the floor and scrambled to the cabinet where she kept her medical kit, portable paddles and charging unit, making her way back over. She dropped to her knees, frantically preparing the charge and squeezing the gel on the paddles. She was frantic, hands shaking badly, but determined as she grabbed the oxygen mask and fresh tank, adjusting it accordingly. Once the paddles were charged, she placed them on the person's chest and pressed the buttons to fire the currents. _

"_Dammit...come on...come on.._" _Sheer intense hatred at herself was growing every second the person she attempted to bring back to life wasn't responding to the charges or the air. So she threw caution to the wind and began chest compressions along with CPR, anything and everything to get the person's heart beating again. Nothing was working. Unless.._

_She tossed away the mask and paddles and jumped back to her feet, going to the wall and typing in another code at the panel. This wasn't something she planned on using, but she always thought of everything just in case. The far left wall slid away and with it open she picked the person up, cradling them to her chest and heading to path now open for her, on her way to her garden. She was grateful of her decision to create this little place of nature, even more so at that moment. _

_Carefully and quickly she brought who was in her arms over to the center of the garden, fuming there wasn't an sunlight around. There had to be SOMETHING she could do. Little did she know..she had done it already. The minute she set the hero down, the colors of pure sunlight began to show along the ground like tiny glowing veins. They slid over their body, wrapping around them and with more and more doing so, the person gasped sending her into absolute shock at the miracle before her eyes._

_Sunlight from life all around them was healing the one she had nearly killed..had killed. Yet here they were, living and breathing. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing, until..they opened glowing purple eyes fueled with anger.._

_**** end of flashback**_

* * *

"_Any luck?_" She shook her head, keeping her hand in her girlfriend's motionless one, looking up as a hot tea was handed to her.

"Thanks." Once the bravest woman, hell person, she had ever met was out of the OR she had hoped for good news. What she hadn't expected was the grimmist of ones, of the possibility her girlfriend may never wake up.

"I'll keep my radio up, so just let me know if anything changes. The red button will sound the alarm okay?" She nodded and took a sip of her tea, watching the acting Director step back out, no doubt to speak to the crowd out in the hall.

"No change?"

"No." Susan dropped into the chair between Nia and Lauren, exhausted but terrified that her boss and friend was in a state of a coma, or something close to it. Brainy and J'onn had been working on a way to enter the Director's unconsciousness, similar to what the Legionnaire had done when Alex, Kara and Lena had entered Juru to find Sam. "Someone needs to relieve Kelly before she falls right out of that chair." No one had expected the heavy boot steps approaching, with all heads turning and gasping all wide eyed.

"_I will._" The person spoke, wearing something they never expected to again considering who made it. The colors had been altered, but the symbol alone was enough to make everyone step back that wasn't seated. They walked passed the group, family, friends and agents included, entering the quiet room. "May I join you?" The woman at the Director's bedside didn't know what she was seeing, let alone _who _she was seeing given their state before. Instead she nodded and the figure, that was fully suited along with their headgear, pulled up a doctor's stool across from her. The minute they sat down, what covered their head faded and revealed a set of powerful glowing purple orbs.

"How are you?"

"_Fine._" The same answer everyone else had asked her, that she had asked who she once called her best friend, was showing in the emotionless expression along the hero's face. _She was no hero. Not anymore. _The power she had absorbed when the Red Daughter had faded and became a part of her, a piece that had been missing all along after the end of Reign and the other _World Killers, _was new but welcome.

She had been told by her sister, what she had done with the sunlight. In the end, the one who had killed her had saved her. In the end, who had taken away the sun gave it back to her. In the end, the coldness Lena had first displayed before others was the same coldness she felt towards her now. The ice wouldn't melt from her heart, not because of what the woman had done to her, but what she did to her family and friends. That frozen heart wouldn't thaw after someone she had put so much hope, faith and trust in nearly killed her sister.

When Lex had tried to kill her, end her existence all together, she had been spared and used what Red Daughter gave her to nearly end his miserable life. That same power that had been used on her, by her _evolved _other self, was the one that wouldn't leave her eyes. They hadn't shifted back to the glow they used to be as National City's hero, Earth's hero. The hope and hero she had always been, wasn't there in her mind or heart at the moment. _Only, her sister was.._

* * *

With heavy reluctance, she stepped away to get some much needed shut-eye. She left her girlfriend in the hands of the sister who seemed adamant about remaining where she sat. The one that sat across from her never faltered from her position or had shown any form of exhaustion, something she envied about her. Regardless, she caved after kissing her beautiful love on the top of the head.

Once the one her sister had trusted enough to open her heart to had left, she finally moved and took one of Alex's hands, turning it palm up and reached for her waist, removing the small black pouch. It was a test, a chance, an understanding of her new gifts and an offering. She had to try, to see if she was in fact strong enough to work another miracle. Carefully, she emptied the soil and peat moss mixture into the Director's open hand, along with seeds just recently sprouted. After using her freeze breath on the seeds before coming in, she brought both hands up to her sister's and looked at her face.

"_**Сильнее вместе.**_ _Stronger Together. __**君は**__**..uacht..aufwachen..en haut**_ _Alexandra._" She turned all her attention to what rested in Alex's hand, shutting her eyes and putting her head back. "_You will...wake up...Alex.._" She whispered the same words, in the language her pod and sister taught her long ago, switching to the language she knew all too well. "_**El Mayarah..Sokao Wai Aoe..**__please...stronger, you and me. Please sis...please __**Wai Aoe.**_"

Streaks of sunlight emulated from her hands, brushing over the hand she held and seeping into what resided in her sister's palm. Those tiny seeds began to sprout even more and before she knew it roots formed before her now open eyes. What had come to life suddenly blew away but the tendrils of sun remained. She watched as the color returned to her sister's face and the numbers on the screen balanced out. A groan came from Alex's throat and with it her eyes came into view, slipping into Kara's own that finally stopped glowing purple. The Director had seen the strange color though, looking down and noticing how she had woken up. The same way her sister had pulled the sunlight to return to her after her memories came back during the brutal fight between Kara and Red Daughter, was now present and furthermore strangely _healing her. _"_**Wai Aoe..Nahn Rrip..**_" She pulled the oxygen mask off her face and smiled.

"_I'm okay __**Kir Aoe. **_I'm okay little sis. _Are you?_" She shook her head and dropped it onto Alex's stomach, clenching to the bed frame so hard she was leaving indensions as tears flooded her eyes and escaped finally. "_It's okay __**Kir Aoe. **__It's okay._" But she refused to move, terrified if she looked up her sister wouldn't be there. She felt a soft and gently hand over her head and fingers running through her hair, then heard a chuckle and that's when she looked up. "_Japanese, Irish...German and...Italian?_" She smirked then rolled her eyes and shook her head. "What I miss?"

"Last one was French." They both laughed and looked over to the doorway, seeing the shocked woman standing there with eyes growing larger and mouth ajar. The object that had been in her hand, slipped out and began to drop to the floor, only to be caught by the blonde who was face to face with her, holding up the cup. "I _trust _you." Kara told Kelly and handed her the tea she had dropped. "I'll leave you two." Before Olsen could stop her or follow the Super, one brief kiss to the bed ridden woman's temple and she was gone from the room.

"Don't mind the road runner." Alex smiled, watching as her girlfriend came running up and setting her cup down, embracing her in a way they hadn't before. She was all too willing to return it and with their arms around each other, she breathed a sigh of relief. Still, she wondered how her sister had gotten away but that could wait for the moment. _This..was far more important.._

* * *

"Are you sure about this?"

"_Yes._ The prisoner is in the interrogation room right?"

"She is." This wasn't something she expected of the person, but understood the reasoning for it. "No cuffs, but frisked thoroughly to make sure she didn't have any form of a weapon or device. I understand where you are coming fr.."

"_You don't. _Look, I appreciate everything you have done, for both me and my sister. This is something that I _have _to do. I hope you understand that."

"I do." She would forever blame herself for the choices she made and the actions she took, thinking she was doing the right thing for her country, for other countries and for that matter _Earth. _This is why she agreed to this and watched the woman before her slip the ski mask over their head, the DEO issued headgear and finally the full face mask with night vision shades. "You have the vest on, just in case?" They pounded their chest with the bulletproof plate, slipping the finger-less gloves over their hands, buckling them at the wrists along with the second set. "When do you want them off?"

"Two minutes." Even gloved up she held out her hand and without any hesitance, Haley took it, shaking it. "Thank you."

"Thank me when you get an answer from the prisoner as to _why._ You know where I will be." She nodded and watched someone who had once been a thorn in her side take leave after helping make this possible. She wouldn't let her down, stepping out of the room and walking down the hall where other agents took notice of the direction she was headed. No one dared to question it after given orders not to do so, but still a few watched her every step towards the prison block that had been emptied out except for _one _prisoner. She showed her ID to the guards, watching as they entered four codes, scanned two readers and waited until each lock was undone, opening the door for her.

"_We follow you, EVEN into the dark._"

"_Thank you._" She stepped inside the much larger interrogation room, not surprised the prisoner was standing with their back turned and hands intertwined behind them. Business attire was long gone, dressed in black sweatpants and a grey sleeveless shirt. Raven loches were pulled back and tied up in a messy bun at the back of their head, turning slowly only to be met with a harsh fist to the gut.

She should have known this was coming, hitting her knees the minute the hand was pulled away gasping and coughing from the blow to her stomach. She refused to give up, about to stand back up when the lights went out. She was left in pitch blackness and felt when a knee made contact with her chin, sending her off her knees and backwards as she crashed into the only chair in the room, hearing it break and meeting the cold cement floor hard.

"_Finish...it._"

"_Get up._" The voice sounded off, almost robotic, not allowing any identity to who was behind the mask and getup.

"_Is..that..what you..want..Alex?_" She would oblige the Director, getting up on shaky legs but standing nonetheless, raising her fists preparing to defend herself. "_The ligh.._" No other words were allowed as two blows to her sides, one knee jab to her chin, lifted up by one arm and flipped over their shoulder, had them up and over the table only to be let go and dropped roughly on top of it sent her into one course of pain after another. "_D...ir...ect.._"

The prisoner before her was coughing up blood, but she refused to give the woman an easy way out. Pain had been inflicted, so as the saying goes.._eye for an eye. _She wasn't done though, but remembered the request from Lauren, giving the person a minute or so to breathe. She stepped away and stopped while facing the prisoner groaning on the slab, watching through the night vision lenses.

"_Confess._" It wasn't a request with how deeply that word was growled, signalling it was an order or command which was quite fine with her. Then something unexpected happened, Lena Kieran Luthor _healed herself. _"Didn't see that coming." The woman sat up and spit out a capsule, leaning back some and keeping herself in that position on flat hands and straightened arms.

"_You wouldn't _Alex Danvers. I don't expect you to understand where I am coming from, but I will agree to your demand." She studied the woman, realizing how much more intelligent the CEO was. Eyes leaving her covered face, looked broken and frail suddenly. A heavy sigh and the tension left Lena's body. "I waited for Lex, knowing he wouldn't just fall to his death. When he showed I was ready and extracted the _Harun-El _from him, removing all his nifty stolen powers. I shot him twice, knowing that if he survived no one would be safe, human or alien." Tears slid down the woman's face when she shut her eyes, causing her to take a couple steps back in shock. "Before he died, he killed me when showing me footage of Kara and Supergirl. He showed me footage of when she saved me as the reporter and gloated on it as I lost the last of my humanity in one fell swoop."

When she turned back and eyes held nothing but pain and sadness, her own heart fractured. "I drugged the wine I brought. I planted devices without anyone looking, that I had brought. I laced your drink Alex, to give you a different dose that worked with what I mixed in the red and white vintage I brought. Lex told me about how everyone had lied to my face and I knew that James' sister probably wasn't in the loop yet. I waited until she was gone, making sure to give her something that would just give her a headache when I offered to get her more of one of the bottles she brought to the game night. I knew kryptonite alone couldn't work on your sister." She reached up and wiped blood from her lips, pulled her fingers away in shock. "Guess it didn't heal everything." She sat up the rest of the way, noticing the dim lighting that came on, then returned green eyes back to hers as if she could see straight through the shield. "I felt betrayed. He played me and in the end...I _really _became _that Luthor._"

She wished she could sit down, sighing at the one chair completely in shambles on the floor. Instead, she stepped back to lean up against one of the walls, facing Lena. "The betrayal and anger took hold. I didn't let it leave me. I kept it and used it. I let my fury at Kara, my hate at myself for believing someone gave a damn, win out over rational thought. I tortured your sister and left you in your own personal suffering. I worked alongside you to clear Supergirl's name. Kara and I went to Russia and it was something she gave me that had saved me from Eve. I didn't know she about to reveal herself to me. I was too busy licking my wounds and telling her all about how I hate being betrayed. I didn't know any of it until I listened to the recordings."

"That gives you the right to do what you did to my sister?"

"_I didn't see it. I didn't put it together. I...didn't know. _I planted the listening devices."

"So you knew we were talking about telling you. You knew we had planned to." The woman nodded. "Why should I _believe _anything you say?" Absolute terror filled Lena's face, especially her eyes.

"Her heart stopped. I panicked, tried to revive her but it wasn't working. I took her to my own private garden, hoping if she could get sunlight she would be fine, she could heal. I didn't realized it was nighttime. I _failed...my best friend. _Then I saw these strange glowing lights, she came back to life and..._her eyes._ They opened and they were this odd glowing color of purple and the fury in her face...I had _never _seen her look at me like that. She grabbed me by the throat and squeezed, I think I passed out. The next thing I knew I was in that boxed cell, _knowing..I deserved it. _My apologies don't matter to you I'm sure, but.._I am so very sorry._"

"What if you had been told, not by your brother but by your best friend. Would you have acted the same way?" The woman looked away and seemed to bury herself in a deep contemplation to the question asked. "Would you?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I would have probably yelled and cussed and thrown things at her or smashed the wine bottle over her head or..._shot her _even though she's bulletproof."

"What will you do now?" Their head turned and eyes met her again with an unreadable expression. "_Well?_"

"I can never undo what I caused and you know it. Kara will probably never want to see me or talk to me again. I expect to be dismembered while still breathing by you Director. I doubt you will let me live now. Though your ideas on how to make me suffer, I'm almost certain is quite a long list if not an entire book on torture techniques. That was my last pill for healing. I took two already after your ex beat the living shit out of me and three of your agents gave me a schooling in how the DEO works in black-op mode. _Look Alex.._do what you feel is just. Your justice, my sentence."

"_Ex?_" _What in the hell did she mean? _

"That spitfire cop who carted me away from my office in front of Kara. I have two questions, if I am allowed to ask." Maggie Sawyer had been here, but she shook that away to focus on who was before her.

"Go ahead." _She had nothing to lose now. _

"The day I was poisoned by Edge, was I flying or was it a dream?"

"You had dropped, seizing on the floor. In civilian clothes, in risk of an identity being revealed, you were flown to the DEO. You were in risk of dying and we figured out what you were poisoned with. In order to stop your heart and brain from shutting down, we had to induce hypothermia." Emerald greens shivered, in her heart of hearts _knew _how it had been done. _Freeze breath. _

"What happened after the fight with reign?"

"Almost died. _A coma._" Lena practically fell off the table, but quick reflexes and she was caught before her head hit the edge of it. One shaking hand went to rest on Alex's arm, noticing as they pulled their own hand away, the glowing bracelet.

"_K...Ka..Kara?_" Once she was put back on the table, the one in DEO gear reached up and removed the helmet, mask, and ski mask. Glowing purple eyes faded, giving way to soft sky and cerulean blues of her best friend. It was as if she had taken the blows all over again, looking into hues that shouldn't show any sign of regret over what they had done.

"Tell me what you gave my sister." She reached up and pulled a notepad and pen from one of the vest pockets, handing it to Lena. Instantly and without any objection, the CEO wrote down everything, along with the dose amounts of each. Her entire body trembled, giving the notepad back with the list of drugs and their doses. Kara took it and went to the door, stopping to slightly look back. "You _aren't _Lex or Lillian, Lena. _Remember that._"

She knocked twice and slid the card key along the reader at the wall, with the guard opening the door. She didn't look back as it closed behind her, walking down the hall and towards Haley's office. Kara Danvers hadn't entered the room. _**Kara Zor-El **__had. _Kara Danvers had been the one to leave though, tears trailing down her face that she didn't bother to wipe away. When she reached the room she was to report to, it wasn't just Lauren waiting.

James sat in the corner practically. J'onn was leaning against the bookshelf. Nia was leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, watching her mentor and friend approach. Brainy had his head down and sat next to his girlfriend. Kelly sat beside her own girlfriend, Alex's and her fingers intertwined. Her sister glanced to Lauren and then Kara, watching as her hero and sister handed over the recorder from a vest pocket.

"_I need to leave for a day or two._"

"_Kara._" She knelt down in front of her sister, took her by the sides of her head and leaned forward kissing her forehead. "_Be safe..please._"

"I caused this. _Me. _She gave me this. I suggest you go get yourself checked out sis. I'll be back. _I promise._"

"Thank you Supergirl." Lauren addressed her and held out a hand. Kara brought her arm forward and grabbed her arm close to the elbow. The Colonel did the same, accepting the warrior greeting. "We will all be here when you get back."

"I appreciate that." The hero didn't say another word, stripping out of the DEO uniform as she walked down the hall and shook several agent's hands to head up the flight of stairs. By the time she reached the top of one of the towers, she was in nothing but a pair of jeans and a burgundy tank. It was dark and she knew no one would see her at the base they were at, away from the normal DEO building. Kara stepped out to the small balcony and took to the night sky, soaring away with nothing but regrets and failures on her mind.

Just as she hadn't meant to fool her best friend, she had. Just as she became the fool not long ago, she wasn't anymore. They were both fools, disregarding actions and consequences until it was too late. _Shame on them both, by the foolish lessons they learned.._


End file.
